Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Brooklyn Borough president Marty Markowitz is not known for being fashion-model svelte, but he gave some common sense testimony at this week's hearing on the Mayor's soda ban.

"The way to approach the obesity epidemic is through education, advocacy, counseling, group support, and I believe most importantly, efforts to raise self-esteem, not a punitive policy that forcibly limits consumer choices," the BP said, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

He adds, "Let me be clear: I’m overweight not because I drink Big Gulp sodas, but frankly because I eat too much pasta, pastrami sandwiches, pizza, bagels with cream cheese and lox, red velvet cake and cheesecake, don’t exercise as much as I should, and my genes are working against me. I was an overweight kid and I’m an overweight adult."

Markowitz urged the return of daily PE in schools and exercise classes across overweight neighborhoods.

"In addition, we should be ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to fresh fruits and vegetables by providing incentives to developers to rent to full-service supermarkets rather than another bank or drug chain," Markowitz said, "and open up our schools so that they can educate not only children, but parents on how to cook healthier and smarter meals with an emphasis on smaller portions."